KUWAIT CITY, Dec 23: Kuwait stocks pulled lower Sunday after chalking strong gains in the previous week. The index gave up early gains to close 20.2 pts lower at 5963.11 pts as investors turned wary of the market direction. Some of the mid and low caps suffered loses whereas the blue chips close mixed. The bourse has been trending cautiously higher so far during the month after posting a strong rebound in November. The KSX 15 benchmark slipped 2.39 pts to 1020.54 pts and has shed almost 25 pts from start of the month while weighted index edged 0.32 pts lower to settle at 420.62 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile dropped sharply extending the decline to third consecutive day. 210.80 million shares changed hands - down 29.60 pct from the day before.

The sectors ended mostly in the red. The parallel market outpaced the peers with 0.58 percent upswing whereas consumer goods slid 3.17 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services topped with 47.39 percent market share while real estate and banks followed with 15.61 pct and 15.53 percent respectively. Advanced Technology Co shed 20 fils to KD 0.650 after trading 1 million shares and Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) was down 20 fils, extending an identical fall in the last session. The stock has retreated 220 fils from start of the day. Kuwait United Poultry Co slipped 20 fils and National Industries Co eased 10 fils to KD 0.300. Bourse heavyweight Zain fell 10 fils erasing the gains in the previous session whereas Wataniya Telecom spiked 60 fils to KD 2.360. The stock is up 20 fils from start of the month while year-to-date, it has climbed 420 fils. Agility added 10 fils on back of 2.35 million shares.

PeakedThe market opened on flat note and edged higher in early trade. The index peaked at 6003.66 points but failed to hold on to the gains. It retreated thereafter as sentiments turned weak and hit the day’s lowest level of 5960.99 pts before clawing back slightly at close. Top gainer of the day, Zimah jumped 9.43 percent to 58 fils and Taiba Kuwait Holding Co climbed 7.27 percent to stand next. KUPC tumbled 12.5 pct, the steepest decliner of the day, while Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 23.75 million shares. Mirroring the day’s downswing, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 40 stocks advanced whereas 54 closed lower. Of the 141 counters active on Sunday, 47 closed flat. 4838 deals worth KD 37.81 million shares were transacted – down 34.04 percent in value from the previous session. On the upside, Kuwait Cement Co rose 10 fils to KD 0.660 Burgan Bank inched 1 fils higher.

Kuwait Gulf Links was up 1 fils at 90 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts Co was up 5 fils . The company has posted KD 4 million loss and earnings per share of 9.37 fils per share in the 9-month period ending September 2012 , a 342% jump in losses from same period in 2011. Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co rose 10 fils to KD 0.660 and Independent Petroleum Group added 5 fils with thin trading. Gulf Cables rallied 40 fils. The company has earned KD 10.54 million and chalked an EPS of 50 fils in first nine months of 2012. In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was flat at KD 0.970 after trading 4.42 million shares whereas Gulf Bank was down 5 fils at KD 0.415. The stock has shed 15 fils from start of the month while year-to-date has tumbled 95 fils. Commercial Bank of Kuwait stagnated at KD 0.760. Burgan Bank gyrated in narrow range before closing unchanged at KD 0.530 and Boubyan Bank followed suit to wind up at KD 0.640. Al Ahli Bank pulled 10 fils lower. The lender has won approval of Kuwait Central Bank to extend the approval to buy back or sell up to 10% of its issued shares for 6 months ending on June 12, 2013.

Steady
Ahli United Bank rose 10 fils to KD 0.840 and Kuwait International Bank was steady at KD 0.305 off early lows. Kuwait Finance House clipped 10 fils after trading 4.9 million shares. The bank’s net profit rose 7.2 percent year-on-year in Q3 to KD 75.9 million and earnings per share chalked 26.64 fils. Total revenues swelled 6 percent year-on-year to KD 611.9 million.
Kuwait Investment Co was flat at 100 fils and Commercial Facilities Co rose 5 fils to KD 0.345. International Financial Advisors edged 1.5 fils lower. The firm has logged a net loss of KD 9.97 million and loss per share of 14.9 fils in the first nine months of 2012.
KIPCO gained 5 fils whereas Securities House Co slipped 2 fils with a volume of 11.8 million shares. Al Maal Investment Co and Bayan Investment were unchanged at 37 fils and 36 fils respectively whereas Osoul Investment Co ticked 2 fils higher.
National Investment Co dropped 4 fils and Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) was flat at KD 0.122. The company has earned KD 2.81 million in profit during the first nine months of 2012, , while the third quarter profit surged 197.7 percent year-on-year to KD 1.67 million.
National Real Estate Co fell 2 fils to KD 0.126 while Tamdeen Real Estate and Salhiya Real Estate both closed flat. Capital Market Authority approved company’s request to buy back or sell a maximum of 10% of its shares within 6 months from the date of approval.
National Industries Group gave up early gains to close unchanged at KD 0.216 whereas Kuwait Portland Cement gained 20 fils . The company has recorded a profit of KD 6,414,466 and earnings per share of 70.56 in the January-September period. Jazeera Airways was flat at KD 0.340 and Combined Group Co followed suit.

The bourse had been positive during last week. It closed higher in 4 of the 5 sessions and gained 53.03 pts week-on-week. The index has added over 20 pts points from start of the month and is trading 2.96 percent higher year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Kuwait Real Estate has registered a net profit KD 1.733 million and EPS of 1.91 fils in the January-Sept period as against earnings of KD 877,467 and earnings per share of 0.97 fils in the same period last year. Abyaar Real Estate Development has announced a net loss KD 1.24 million and loss per share of 1.15 in the first nine months of 2012 as against earnings of KD 821,618 and EPS of 0.78 fils in the same period last year.
Meanwhile KSE has reviewed the KSX 15 Index following which Ahli United Bank, Boubyan Petrochemical Company, and Qurain Chemical Industries Company were replaced by Wataniya Telecom Co., Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Food Company (Americana). ALAFCO Aviation Lease and Finance Company, Boubyan Petrochemical Company, and Gulf Cable & Electrical Industries Co. will be added to the reserve list of companies list for the next review.